Gundam feels a sea breeze blow through his hair. He sits on the beach, watching waves lap gently at the shore. His mouth curves up into a smile as he hears the chittering sound of hamsters. The Four Dark Gods of Destruction, four of his dearest friends from when he entered the school, crawl all over his arms and clothes. The animal breeder leans against a palm tree, sighing in content, and closes his eyes, dozing off. This is a very relaxing place. Footsteps crunching on the sand make him crack open an eye, however.
"Halt. You shall come no further. Do you wish to be smote by the divine power of Gundam Tanaka? I will not hesitate to-"
"I think your hamsters are cute, Tanaka-kun." The lavender haired girl cocks her head, gentle smile adorning her face. The white rabbit next to her giggles.
"Huo-!" Gundam sputters, unsure of how this girl could just blatantly ignore his words like that. A light blush rises onto his cheeks, and he yanks up his scarf to hide it. The girl sits down next to him on the sand. "What do you want from me, thoughtful one?"
"We're just being friends. Duh." She smiles at him, and Gundam gets flustered. "You don't have to be so embarrassed." The girl chuckles. "We haven't even started. The others haven't even arrived." Gundam's face darkens. She catches the change and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. They'll be different when they get here. Like they used to be." Gundam glances back at the lapping waves.
"I understand that is the intention. But you can never be too sure." The girl nods, and is about to respond when three pairs of footsteps approach. The two look up to find the rabbit, Komaeda, and Saionji. His friends look younger, like students again. Like they did when they entered school. Before the event. Saionji puts her hands on her hips.
"Big bro Tanaka, you're supposed to save the dating part for after everyone is here." She places a hand over her mouth and giggles tauntingly. Gundam sputters, embarrassed and, to be honest, slightly offended. He's not exactly sure why he's offended, but he is. Komaeda laughs at Gundam's expression, then bumps Saionji lightly with his elbow. She bumps him back, and the rabbit addresses the girl.
"Chiaki-chan, it's time fow them to go." Nanami sighs, standing up.
"I suppose it is. Thank you, Usami-chan." Nanami helps Gundam to his feet, and he makes his way over to the platform partially obscured by sand on the beach along with Komaeda and Saionji. Nanami smiles softly at the three. "We'll see you guys later."
They wave at Usami and Nanami, and walls begin to pull themselves up from the sand, closing up around the platform. The beach, part of the virtual Jabberwock Island, begins to degrade, little cube shaped parts falling from the sky and sand and disappearing. Usami and Nanami slowly fade out of view. Gundam sighs as he feels the four hamsters on his person phase away as well. The trio stands silent as the walls click shut, leaving them in a closed off classroom. There's a click as the double doors serving as the exit unlock and swing open. They proceed through the doorway into the blackness beyond as the classroom dissolves behind them.
Gundam's eyes open suddenly, and he pitches forward, bonking his head on the glass of the pod he's in. It takes a moment for the disorientation to clear from his head. When he manages to remember what he's doing, the door to the pod hisses and swings upward. The animal breeder steps out of the vertical steel tube in time to see Saionji's release her. He helps her hop down, and another hiss signals that Komaeda's pod has opened up. They turn as he climbs out and smiles at them. A door on the other side of the small room opens, and Naegi happily comes in, followed by Kirigiri.
"It worked! This is so great!" The younger man smiles giddily and goes over to a laptop on a simple table near the beta pods, which pulse with a blue light before finally going dark. He leans over and types a few things into a file open on it. Gundam finds his voice, along with a slight grin.
"Ah, that it did. That island is surprisingly spacious. Just like its existing counterpart, I suppose." Saionji nods in agreement.
"Yeah! Who would have known we could blow off a few hours that easily?" The dancer picks at her hair, fixing the mess her long blonde locks had become while in the pod. Kirigiri chuckles.
"Looks like the time dilation feature is working as well."
"Huh?" Komaeda says, looking like Gundam feels. Confused.
Kirigiri drops the grin. "You guys were actually in there for an entire day, real-time." The trio look at each other in confusion and distress. "It's an experimental technology put in place to help increase the effects of the New World Program."
"Kyouko-san, no need to be so blunt..." Naegi scratches his cheek in embarrassment.
"They needed to know what they're getting into. If they're not comfortable with all aspects of the program then-"
"Woah woah woah. Are you implying that we wouldn't do this?" Saionji shoots Kirigiri a glare. "There's no way we wouldn't go in just because some time died-o-lation, right guys?" Gundam nods his consent and Komaeda responds with an 'of course'. Kirigiri turns to Naegi with a barely perceivable smirk.
"I told you, Makoto." Naegi raises his hands in defeat, then turns to the three older adults.
"Thanks for testing out the beta pods. We'll just make a few adjustments to the alpha pods and the machine should be ready to go in two or three days." Naegi clicks a few things, shutting down the laptop, and sighs. The group files out of the room, Naegi flipping off the light as they walk out of the room. Gundam turns to him as they walk down the hallway.
"Makoto Naegi... these 'alpha pods', unlike the beta pods... they remove memories of school life, do they not?" Naegi looks at him questioningly and nods.
"Yeah. Don't worry though, I had Alter Ego alter the three pods you guys would be using so that you guys would still remember your time here with the Future Foundation and your mission."
"I request you leave everything in, for all three of us."
"Wh-" Gundam cuts him off.
"The time I spent with them was... special. It is not something to just be erased, forgotten about. No, for your schemes to work, we must retain all of our memories." Naegi looks doubtful, but Gundam continues. "We have formed a bond, one that should not be broken. If you would not do it for me, do it for them." Gundam motions to Saionji and Komaeda, adults that were much older than they needed to be. "They are special to me. And I to them. I do not say this often... but... please." Naegi just smiles at him.
"Well of course. If you think it'll help."
The only illumination in the room is the gentle light of the laptop on the table next to the beta tubes as it shuts down. However, a hand reaches out from the darkness, tapping the mousepad. The computer springs back to life, and another hand comes into view, plugging a flashdrive into one of the laptops USB ports.
Izuru Kamakura pulls out the chair, gently placing himself into it. He has a limited amount of time as, even with his skills, he can only be kept unaware of for so long. He quickly activates the single thing in the flashdrive, an executable, and taps his foot impatiently as it downloads onto the laptop. A smile creeps onto his face as he reads the window that pops up. 'Enoshima .exe running'. Perfect. Whenever they link up this laptop with the New World Program, and he knows they will, the virus would infect it and her plan would be put into motion. And he himself made sure that it wouldn't be detected until it was too late. With that, Kamakura pulls out the drive and drops it casually into his pocket. Now all he has to do is deal with the two dead guards and reactivate the security cameras once he's back in his cell.